


Beacon

by mmmdraco



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-22
Updated: 2012-09-22
Packaged: 2017-11-14 20:10:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmdraco/pseuds/mmmdraco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Ochi needs is a guide.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beacon

Ochi doesn't really have _friends_. He has acquaintances, colleagues, co-workers and maybe even peers, but not really friends. He just can't quite dampen down his ego enough to shrug off losses or to _not_ gloat when he wins by some amazing margin. And as a pro, he doesn't really have to.

It doesn't mean it doesn't suck a whole lot to eat lunch alone or to have nothing better to do after a shidougo session than to go home and read or watch the news. 

Still, he's young. Younger than most of the insei are. And it's prestigious. Plus, his lack of popularity among the other pros doesn't seem to affect his popularity among potential pupils. So he's doing okay for himself, really. But he still feels pulled toward being like Shindou and Waya and Isumi with their easy charm. But not quite like that because, honestly, that doesn't really appeal to him. Ochi doesn't like things to be easy. That's _why_ he likes go.

But there are a few people he wouldn't mind actually being friends with. Because Fukui, for all that he's almost too pleasant to be real, is kind of fun to be around. And Iijima, despite being friendly or maybe more with Nase, is still a bit of an outsider and also has glasses and Ochi likes his go even though he knows that his own is stronger and far superior. And Honda. Honda who is tall and awkward and tries too hard and kind of makes Ochi's heart swell a little sometimes.

It isn't that Ochi feels some kind of connection with Honda, but he sees similarities there. Enough that Honda is like a beacon in the dark showing Ochi what to do if he wants to be able to go to karaoke with the others. Honda manages humility well and isn't really all that pleasant, but he knows _how_ to be and knows when to use that. He's not terribly gifted in the looks department, but he does have broad shoulders and a trim waist. He's kind of bland, really, and that makes him blend in and Ochi figures that's how it all works. 

If you want to fit in, you can't stand out too much. Granted, Shindou is the exception to that rule. And Ochi accepts that now. He'll play his own go, thank you very much, and not care too much about anyone else. But, Honda...

Maybe it could be enough to have one friend. Or whatever it was that he felt for Honda that went above what he felt for the others. They weren't two of a kind. Not even close. Friends didn't need to be exactly alike, but rather alike in just enough ways to count, or so it seemed. Studying human behavior was much more difficult than studying kifu thanks to there not exactly being a written record of the moves that were made.

Yet, it struck Ochi that maybe relationships really weren't that different from go anyway. It was all about attaching and surrounding and careful placement. So he might try that. Attach himself to Honda. Carefully. Obscurely. Then observe and see where the other stones fell. And Honda would continue to be his beacon in the night, whether he knew it or not, helping to guide Ochi's way.


End file.
